Demand for more functions walks hand in hand with more trips to the plug when it comes to smartphones. That is unfortunately a reality we must all come to grips with. The concept of 5-month- stand-by times and a week's usage now belongs in the museum along with dinosaur fossils. Nowadays, you would be lucky to hold out till the end of the day if you are into Whatsapping or Facebooking or Instagramming, no matter which way you look at it, charging a phone is a hassle, because for the brief period of time while the phone is connected to the socket, you are exposed to the real world and it's scary and you can't wait till your phone hits 100 and you can escape into your own world again.

FAST CHARGERS

This does what it says in the tin; it charges your phone faster than a conventional charger. With some models, you can even get 50 percent charge in less than 20 minutes, which is good news for those who need their phones alive ASAP.

Fast chargers essentially provide a lot more current than the usual array of chargers you get. However, do make sure that your phone can take the extra grunt from the chargers and also, it's not wise to use fast chargers constantly as they do affect the lifetimes of batteries in the long run. Chargers of these types are usually offered and are exclusively made by OEMs themselves so it's best to check their showrooms or order from abroad.

CAR CHARGERS

Quite the dilemma saver, this little gadget! Car chargers are a very common item these days. That means you can charge your phone up while on your commutes. You hook it up to the cigarette lighter and voila: instant life.

These can be had just about anywhere in the city for as little as Tk 200, but do make sure it's not shoddy in terms of quality as that could spell trouble for your phone.

POWER BANKS

When you get short of battery life and there is not a single socket in sight, this is who you call. Power banks are essentially giant capacity batteries that transfer their juice to your poor malnourished smartphone. Capacities range from piddling 4000mAhs to skyrocketing capacities like 41,600mAh such as Luxa2 (order from abroad if interested).

When buying a power bank, do make sure to see the charging ratings as anything lower than what your phone will support would mean it won't charge it, but rather become a giant battery for your phone instead.

Some examples of good power banks at good prices include i. Apacer B520 10,000 mAh (Tk 2,600), ii. Remax Proda 20,000 mAh (Tk 2,799).

WIRELESS CHARGING

If you have ever owned an electric toothbrush, you pretty much know this technology. For those who don't, it's simply charging your phone by simply placing it on a base. The solution is for comfort and ease of use rather than efficiency to be honest, as these chargers don't really have enough oomph to charge your device in any respectable time. This is meant to be at your home or your office, where you would simply put it on the base and forget its existence until your phone vibrates with some notification.

As these are OEM dependant, its best to search for these at the showrooms or order from abroad.

While charging is sure needed to bring your smartphone back to life, it's also important that you give it enough of a fighting chance to survive before that inevitable plug in. These two methods ensure a longer battery life -

FRESH BATTERIES/MODIFIED AFTERMARKET BATTERIES

Assuming of course that your device has a removable back cover that hasn't been sacrificed in the latest trend of 'premium' build, this is a sure-fire way of keeping for phone fighting longer and harder. And depending upon your phone's manufacturer, there are even reputable aftermarket batteries that boast much higher capacities than the ones provided by stock.

Samsung is lucky enough to be catered by such a brand, called Zerolemon, who creates batteries for its various flagship models with capacities hitting 10,000mAh.

It's best to order modded aftermarket batteries from abroad because of its unavailability here. As for replacement batteries, they are available for most brands at prices starting from Tk 1000 at places like Eastern Plaza. Make sure you don't buy fakes or non-original batteries as it will cause more harm than good.

BATTERY CASES

Don't think we forgot our trendy premium build smartphones with no swappable batteries. Help is still at hand with battery cases. These are essentially cases which have built in batteries of their own, adding to the one already built in on your phone, meaning your smartphone has a second chance at life before needing a cord. Order from abroad as these aren't available here.

Photo: Collected